Fantastic Feeling to be WIFBSC Individual Champion Again – Goodluck – Delivering for the team is exactly what I desire

By Franklin Wilson in Barbados in association with
Industrial Safety Supplies Inc. and Fitness Express
New Individual King of the Caribbean Fullbore Range, Ransford Goodluck has disclosed that after winning the title back in 2010 he somehow felt that he could not do it again but mustered the confidence and will to again be crowned in the top shot at the 2018 West Indies Fullbore Shooting Council (WIFBSC) Individual Championship here in Barbados.
Goodluck, who has won his 7th championship at this level, three more than any other shooter, led from the first day until the final day of the three-day competition and won by a comfortable 11 points ahead of his countryman Lennox Braithwaite, 390.27 to 379.26.
Mahendra Persaud, who had won the title in Guyana last year, was unable to defend his title due to circumstances beyond his control but still played a pivotal role in his countryman winning to keep the title in Guyana.
Goodluck revealed that after he had won the title in 2010 he unjustifiably took a step back from the sport.
“I can say so now because I discovered that while I was competing between 2010 and now, there was no joy, I was just going through the motions. But after the illness of our colleague, captain and brother Mahendra, I had to step in to replace him on the Commonwealth Games team and then I discovered that all I thought was ok and was not well with respect to my equipment.”
The top marksman, who has been around the sport for well over 35 years, indicated that he had to completely retool in terms of his shooting equipment and then he started to experience the pleasure that was missing.
What Goodluck also discovered at the Commonwealth Games held in the Gold Coast of Australia was that he was one competition short of really getting back into his old winning stride.
“So when I came back home and we started to prepare for the Caribbean championships I felt that I was really at the level I was supposed to be. But somehow within the preparation I figured that I was losing something in that, while we were at the Commonwealth Games it was an everyday exercise but at home it was a once a week thing.”
But the experienced shooter said that he kept strengthening his mental fortitude and from the first day here at the Paragon Ranges he discovered himself and started producing the kind of scores he knows he is capable of and required to be the best.
“Just like old times and I fell back into the groove, the mindset and the pleasure; all that goes with it. But really and truly, I kind of short changed myself for eight years but I am really, really happy now.”
The new king of the range further disclosed that his success would have also been as a result of being in the company that makes him, somebody.
“The company I love the most; they are friends that I have, but these are the most important people in my life outside of my family. Being there and really delivering to make good things happen for the team, individually and collective is exactly what I desire.”
Looking ahead to the team championships which starts today with the Long Range Match and would end tomorrow with the marquee Short Range Match, Goodluck commented:
“I have observed that the senior shooters more or less have delivered but some of the junior ones have not delivered within my expectation as an individual and that would take some effort on the part of the coaches and the team in general to really motivate and get them up to the level that we require in order to perform that we normally do, which is above and beyond the opposition.”
Goodluck believes that once the shooters are motivated to the level that Guyana normally operates on, there is no doubt that the titles would be successfully defended.

Ransford Goodluck (left) relaxing before the start of the Individuals with T&T’s Norris Gomez, former WIFBSC President.

“Having said that, it doesn’t mean that the other teams are going to allow us and at the same time performing at their best anyway. But we don’t need to find out whether they are at their best or their worst, we need to keep our standard at the best level that we can and that is what we intend to do.”
The win Goodluck said is dedicated to Mahendra Persaud: “Without him I am certain that I would not have been at this level in relation to motivation; to really want to do something good. God bless him in his recovery and we are really looking forward to have him back with us on the range in the shortest possible time.”